Past Obsessions

From earliest to most recent...

Playing Music - I tried to teach myself to play the guitar when I was fifteen. Gave up when I realised that my fingers are too short for the full range of finger-picking, and I can't get by with strumming if I can't sing in tune.

Listening to Music - Instead I became obsessed with the 'Dunedin sound', that jangly guitar garage band genre of music, and a self-styled Indie. After I returned from my big O.E in Europe, India and Africa, I inexplicably stopped seriously listening to music.

Karate - started when I was a Zoology student. Two years later, I was a brown belt (provisional) and had bought a book by the master of the style (Okinawan something - it was over a decade ago). Lost interest after two years, after I came back from holiday.

Yoga - went to classes twice weekly, even bought a mat of my own and contemplated buying a video so I could practise at home. Gave up after two years, after I sprained my ankle and hurt my back in two completely unrelated, non-yoga incidents.

Drawing and Painting - I was the girl at primary school who drew horses for her classmates. Much, much later, I got the urge to re-learn and attended evening classes. I even enrolled in a full-time, three-month Art and Design course at the local polytechnic. I even sold some of my work. After three years, I've lost the passion. I still do a bit of life drawing, and keep my easel up in case I want to use it, but I haven't painted regularly for about six months.

Web design and digital art - I'm too cheap to pay for my own domain, and can only create static pages on the account I have. Photoshop is a great tool, but trying to make the mouse act like a pen or a brush is pretty frustrating. On the backburner.